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HEARTBEAT and The WBC Willy Brandt Center Jerusalem present:

THE HIP HOP HUDNA
JERUSALEM-BERLIN HIP HOP XCHANGE

In May and June 2010 sixteen Israeli, Palestinian and German youth musician, rappers, and poets (ages 16-21) took part in a one of a kind exploration of the past, present and future. Living and creating music together for one week in Jerusalem and one week in Berlin, participants of the project explored Hip-Hop and other urban art forms as tools for citizen empowerment and social change. The songs on this album are all original compositions by project participants.

The program was implemented by the Willy Brandt Center Jerusalem and Heartbeat Jerusalem, and was sponsored by Europeans for Peace and the Foundation for Remembrance, Responsibility and Future.

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HEARTBEATRound Rock, Texas

HEARTBEAT is an international community of musicians, educators, and students using music to build mutual understanding and
transform conflict. Heartbeat seeks to empower Israeli and Palestinian musicians by creating opportunities and spaces for musicians from both sides to work together, hear each other, and amplify their voices to influence the world around them....more

(Mohammad/Arabic):
Why are you afraid?
Don't you know?
Through music we can talk and come closer to each other.
Don’t be afraid!
Rap is my obsession and it keeps me from jail.
I'll never change. I'll always stay the same.
If you are good to me, I’ll be good to you.
But if you hurt me, I'll never forget.
I live my life, far from the idea of sacrifice.
But your checkpoints are built for my misery.
Everything seems to turn against me,
and it makes me sick.

(Daffy /Hebrew):
Only death, and more death,
Shooting, and more shooting!
Only separation, and more separation,
Tears, and more tears!
Too many traumas that will stay forever.
The same people and the same weapons
are always on the scene!
Lord, can you explain me, what’s going on?
Why do people continue to lie?
Why are their answers even more confusing,
without any explanation?
Will I be able to overcome?
*

(Basti&Diar/German):
What every farmer knows,
As you sow so shall you reap.
We wish everyone would feel good,
because we believe in humanity.
Remember, together we can change the world!
Who decides if things could be different
or if they stay as they are?
How does the world look in our dreams?
Let's go on!
I'm changing myself as I move forward.
If you respect me, I will respect you
and no longer will it be a matter of sink or swim.
Because we'll stick together and take things into our own hands,
and we won't give up!

“Boom, Boom, Boom...”

(Yan “Bugs” /Hebrew):

For them I am just a soldier obeying orders,
But the time has come to change the picture!
I have my side, my inner truth
and at the end of every day there are people who understand me.
My mistakes don't make me a shitty person.
When every time pure hate occupies the world
I don't understand how people can keep living
making the same errors again and again.

(Don Bassa/Arabic):
You can’t change me, as I can’t you.
You love me, you hate me, I really don’t care.
From Jerusalem to Berlin,
all Arabs in the street know who I am.
With my k’fiya in the club, they love my bouncing.
I love them, but also envy them.
There is no police to stop them.
In Jerusalem we are afraid of the government.
When will I be free?
When will I live like everyone else?

(Fadi/Arabic):
If you want to change the situation,
just stop what’s going on.
You can’t sleep on the roof,
while others sleep in a bed of silk.
Stop, think, and decide!
Now is the time for change.
Please lower the heat.
Stop shooting!
I raise my middle finger for who got their finger on the trigger!
Why should we live forever under pressure and strike?
I feel like my life is a pair of dice.
Stop the war!
Hey people, stop the war!
I raise my middle finger for who got their finger on the trigger!

“Boom, Boom, Boom...”

(Dave/Arabic):
So many times you found yourself at the end of the story,
but sometimes you want to be the winner.
So many people present themselves as someone cool.
While inside they carry piles of trash,
even though from outside they look like jasmine.
Their existence is full of clashes and struggle for life.
I am a writer, as everyone can be a writer, too.
I write slogans on banners, deviated slogans.
Like a hooker, introducing herself as the Virgin Mary,
but in reality, she is confused,
and a curse on the world.
I know, I sound crazy,
But we are all human beings.